How to look after your eyes around Christmas

Eat a balanced diet

It’s important to eat a balanced diet all year round, but especially at Christmas when we tend to indulge in festive food. You should still enjoy the foods you love, but including some dark leafy greens, oily fish and fruits will go a long way towards maintaining good health, which will also benefit your eyes. Sprouts are an especially nutritious part of a traditional Christmas dinner.

Limit your alcohol consumption

Christmas is typically a time for indulging in alcohol. From festive season cocktails to mulled wine and Irish cream liqueur, a tipple at Christmas isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As with most things, it’s the dose that makes the poison. Too much alcohol over time can dehydrate the body and increase your risk of age-related macular degeneration as well as cataracts. Try to alternate every alcoholic beverage with a glass of water to stay hydrated. Read more about how alcohol can affect your eye health.

Avoid smoky environments

Whether a family member has burnt some food, or the flaming Christmas pudding has set the tablecloth on fire, smoky environments can wreak havoc with our eyes. If the room starts to fill with fumes and smokes, open some windows and doors to air the place out. This will help to keep your eyes irritation-free.

Open bottles of champagne carefully

Make sure to shield your eyes when champagne bottles are being opened. A champagne cork can exit a pressurised bottle at 50mph, so be careful! You don’t want the cork to find its way into your eyes at that speed. If you are the one opening the bottle, be sure to point it in a direction where no one is standing. Better yet, cover the bottle with a tea towel as you open it.

Keep your eyes hydrated

Winter is notorious for making our eyes feel more dry, due to our homes being centrally heated. Keep your eyes hydrated throughout the day by drinking plenty of water and where necessary, use eye drops to reintroduce moisture.

Look after your lenses

If you wear contact lenses, it’s important to look after them over the holidays. If you find your eyes have become more dry or irritated, you can always switch to wearing glasses for a while. If you choose to continue wearing lenses, ensure that you keep up your lens cleaning routine (unless you wear daily disposables). The eye care tips below will help you avoid eye infections:

• Clean your lens case after every use
• Replace your lens case every 3 months
• Clean and store your two weekly/monthly lenses at night
• Don’t sleep in your lenses (unless advised to by an eye care professional)
• Don’t overwear your lenses
• Keep your lenses away from water

Limit time on digital screens

Watching Christmas films is a tradition many families take part in around the holidays. All that screen time can cause eye strain and tired eyes, so be sure to take regular breaks away from digital screens.

Watching screens has been shown to reduce the amount we blink, which can cause dry eye. So, when you’re enjoying your festive viewings, try to blink more often. Read our other blog for more tips on how to protect your eyes during a movie marathon. Taking a long winter walk is a great idea to take a break away from digital screens. Just remember to wear your sunglasses to protect your eyes from harmful UV rays.